August 18, 2025
In a concerning incident at the Woodland Heights Apartments, police were called to the scene after a 23-month-old child fell from a second-story window. The child suffered abrasions and bruising to her head, prompting immediate medical attention.
Witnesses reported that the child’s mother, Angelia Varner, 35,Newton, was outside in the parking lot when the fall occurred. According to court documents, Varner had left her three children—ages 23 months, three years, and nine years—unattended in the apartment while she stepped outside. Varner stated that she left the nine-year-old in charge of the younger children.
Upon entering the apartment, officers discovered a second-story bedroom window with the screen torn out, creating a opening through which the child could fall. Varner acknowledged that the window had been open for several hours, witnesses stated that it was common for the children to play near the window or lean out.
Varner was arrested and placed in the Jasper County Jail. But later released.
The situation escalated when, on September 25, Newton police were called back to the residence for a welfare check after the nine-year-old was found outside, unable to get back in. Officers attempted to make contact with Varner and, upon entering the apartment, were met with a smoky environment. Inside, they found the three-year-old lying naked and in a fetal position on the floor, while Varner was discovered asleep in her bedroom with the door closed.
In her statements to the police, Varner admitted that she had fallen asleep and forgotten to turn off the oven. A case worker from the Department of Human Services confirmed that Varner had violated a safety plan by failing to supervise her children properly, including a child with autism.
As a result of these incidents, Varner was arrested and taken to the Jasper County Jail, facing multiple charges of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person, classified as a Class C felony, along with child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor. A cash/surety bond of $10,000 has been set, and a pre-trial conference is scheduled for October 13 at 9:00 AM.
